I wanted to show how it was that Australians became communists, what that meant, what they sought to do, how far they succeeded, as well as suggest the far-reaching consequences of their endeavour. One of the most remarkable things about Macintyre’s writing is how he brings it to life with portraits of individual participants without sacrificing the rigor of theoretically informed social history. More than anything, Macintyre’s deep commitment to the New Left both reflected and shaped his spirit of solidarity, as well as his critical and principled political and intellectual outlook. Perhaps, however, the most fitting way to pay tribute is to focus on his involvement in the New Left in Australia in the late 1960s and in the UK throughout the 1970s.
I interviewed Stuart earlier in the year while he was completing this book, and our conversation spanned his whole career. Fortunately, Macintyre was just able to finish his long-awaited second volume, The Party: The Communist Party of Australia from Heyday to Reckoning, which will be published by Allen & Unwin in February 2022. His first volume on the Australian Communist movement, The Reds: The Communist Party of Australia from Origins to Illegality, is the definitive text on the CPA, the largest Communist Party in the Anglophone world relative to population.
Perhaps best known as the historian of the Communist Party of Australia (CPA), Macintyre’s historical work is sweeping and magisterial, spanning immense cultural and political shifts without sacrificing nuance. Macintyre was prolific, the author of over a dozen books and editor of many more. He gave his time freely and magnanimously, and his dedication to imparting his knowledge and advice reflected the best traditions of the twentieth-century left. His encyclopedic knowledge of Australian and working-class history was equaled only by his generosity as a teacher. Macintyre was more than a writer and researcher. With his death, the Australian left has lost a preeminent intellectual and historian.
On Monday, November 22, Stuart Macintyre passed away after a relapse of cancer.
0 kommentar(er)
